Heat exchangers such as condensers, radiators, evaporators, heater cores and coolers made of aluminum or aluminum alloy (generally referred to hereinafter as “aluminum”) or other metals are widely used today. These heat exchangers generally include perforated fins brazed to the external surfaces of tubes and plates that form the structure of the heat exchanger. The tubes are usually extruded and the fins are usually made from sheets.
Prior to assembly into heat exchangers the tubes and plates are typically coated (or plated) with a corrosion protector using known techniques such as twin-wire arc thermal spraying. Zinc or zinc-aluminum alloys are generally used as the corrosion protector, but any known corrosion inhibitor may be used. The fins are prepared prior to assembly to carry the brazing filler that fills the joints between the tube and fins during brazing. The brazing filler is applied to fin sheet stock as a cladding layer in the form of an overlaid sheet that is rolled and bonded onto the aluminum fin sheet. The cladding consists of a material or materials known in the art to be capable of melting at a temperature lower than the heat exchanger aluminum such as an aluminum-silicon alloy so that, during brazing, the cladding will form brazed joints. The use of such clad brazing sheets is well known and commonly used, even though it is well known that the use of clad brazing sheets adds to production costs and accelerates tool wear.
Prior to brazing of aluminum heat exchangers, tube cladding and plate surfaces must be cleaned and de-oxidized. Removal of the oxidation layer is necessary in order to form strong joints. This is generally accomplished using a material commonly known as flux that chemically cleans and de-oxidizes the surface and protects the aluminum from further oxidation. The flux is applied to the aluminum surfaces of plates and tubes prior to brazing using techniques such as flux showering or electrostatic spraying. During brazing, the flux material further serves to reduce the filler metal's surface tension and promote wetting of the materials to assist in joint formation. While many flux materials are known and used, Nocolok® Flux (a mixture of potassium fluoroaluminate salts manufactured by Solvay Fluor), and similarly formulated fluxes, are preferred due to their non-corrosive effect on aluminum after brazing. The components of the heat exchanger are finally joined together by bringing the assembly to brazing temperature in a controlled atmosphere brazing furnace, a vacuum furnace, or the like.
To summarize, aluminum heat exchangers for automotive vehicles and other applications, today, are manufactured by flux brazing of filler-clad fin sheets to zinc-coated plates and tubes. The fin sheets are clad with brazing filler in one process, the plates and tubes are coated with zinc in a second process and the brazing flux is applied in a third process.
An alternative method of preparing heat exchanger components for aluminum brazing is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,761. In the '761 patent, a solvent-based brazing composition is coated onto components using known techniques such as dip coating or liquid spray coating. The disclosed brazing composition includes, (1) a powdered alloy of aluminum, silicon, zinc, and indium (or beryllium), (2) a polymeric resin binder, (3) an aliphatic alcohol solvent, and (4) a brazing flux. In the patent, an alloy is first formed from powders of aluminum, silicon, zinc and indium. The alloy is then made into a powder and mixed with the polymer binder, solvent and flux. The resulting liquid brazing composition is then applied to the substrate using known techniques and becomes bound to the substrate by action of the polymer resin. Brazing follows.